Looking for a new house should be fun. Right? But often, it’s over-the-top stressful. There are so many variables. A house may be too big, or it may be too small. The price needs to be right; the yard needs to be large… or not. And then there’s location, location, location. I often joke that looking for a house is like finding the right relationships. We must decide what our deal breakers are. What are we willing to negotiate, and where are we willing to compromise?

This time, the house hunt was extra tricky. The houses currently on the market were selling so quickly; many sold before I could even see them. I looked at houses every Saturday morning, and still, many sold before I could even get to see them. And to make things worse, the prices were climbing weekly due to the high demand. I had a pretty good agent, but she simply couldn’t keep up. I needed to find something sooner than later. I was now running out of time and starting to feel the pressure. Although I had been watching the market for the year prior, there was no way I could have predicted how crazy the market would get when I was ready to buy.

It was time to get serious about the search. My loan was approved, and I took care of everything I could ahead of time. I knew exactly my price range, and I was online every morning to see if any new listings were available from the day before.

If I saw something in my price range, I would immediately call my realtor, and we would try to see the home before a “Sold” sign was placed in the yard. The market was such that the homes I was looking for were in very high demand, which presented another problem. They were selling way above the listed price. I would make an offer at the list price, but I never came close to getting an offer accepted. It was so frustrating.

We looked at one home with almost everything on my wish list. The price was close, and the neighborhood was almost right, but I just didn’t love it. However, what was I to do? I had made nine offers on homes and had only gotten one counteroffer at a price I couldn’t afford. I was discouraged, so discouraged. I could make a low offer on the house, knowing I most likely wouldn’t get it. But did I really want to waste everybody’s time? And what if, by some crazy miracle, the seller accepted my offer? I would probably be kicking myself when I was living in a home that I didn’t L-O-V-E. On the other hand, the pressure was on, and I didn’t seem to be finding anything else. I told my realtor I’d get back to her by the end of the day and let her know if I wanted to make an offer on it or not.

I felt defeated. I walked to my car, climbed in, and sat there for a few minutes. I prayed, “What should I do?” I got nothing. So, I decided I’d take a walk. I thought it might be good to get outside and have some uninterrupted God time. Just down the street was a walking path, precisely what I needed.

A little way down the trail, the path came to a crossroads. If I went left or right, I would parallel a small river. If I went straight, I would cross over the river. I stayed the course and walked over the bridge. I was curious to see what was on the other side. Once over the bridge, the pathway went to the left to a housing track. I continued down the path to the end and then had a decision to make. Do I turn back, or do I walk down to the shoreline and walk along the riverbank?

It was a beautiful day, and I wasn’t ready to cut my walk short, so I kept walking. I walked down to the riverbank and checked out the water.

I couldn’t tell how deep it was, but it was moving along. I could see the walking path on the other side if I looked closely. Knowing I probably should have taken a left turn back at the crossroads, I had to smile. I would at least have been on the same side of the river as my car. I could go back the way I came, or I could keep walking upstream without knowing how far I would have to go before finding a way to cross back over the river. The rolling hills of the countryside made it impossible to see what lay ahead.

Just as I was ready to turn around, I heard that still, quiet voice that we often can’t hear unless we get rid of all the other distractions in our lives. “Keep walking,” it said. So, I did. As I climbed up the knoll, a rabbit hopped across my path. I could hear the river’s flow and the birds singing. And the view was spectacular. I was still thinking about the house situation, but for the moment, I was more focused on how to get back across that river. However, I felt God prompting me to keep walking more than a couple of times.

Obedience doesn’t have to be difficult. However, sometimes there’s a lot of faith wrapped up in it.

Even as a long-time Christian, I still sometimes struggle with giving up control and remembering God already has everything worked out. I wonder how many times I’ve bailed out of a situation when the solution to my problem was literally just a few steps away.

When I got to the top of the knoll, guess what was just a few yards away? There was another bridge over the river. Once I climbed that little hill, it was in plain sight.

I realized that God did answer me. His answer was actually quite simple. Keep walking. He wanted me to keep doing what I was doing and believe he was taking care of the problem. He already had a plan and a solution.

It was an easy decision not to submit an offer on the house that day. I just didn’t love it. Although I was feeling the pressure of the time crunch, I would keep looking. Or, for now, I’d keep walking. I called my agent on my way home to let her know we would not be putting an offer in on this house, but we would keep looking.

Sure enough, a week later, a different house came up. My agent called me and suggested we look at it. I had seen it listed, but the pictures of this house didn’t look like something I would be interested in checking out. The asking price was at my max, and it obviously needed some work. I also assumed I would be unlikely to purchase it at the list price due to how the homes were selling in the area.

I agreed to look at the house with my agent that weekend. When we pulled up to the front, I was surprised it didn’t look as run-down as I had expected. When we walked in, I felt the same way. It was horribly dirty and needed interior paint, new carpet, and new appliances, but I could handle those things if the purchase price were in my range. It was the perfect size and super cute. The pictures made it look so much worse than it was. All this house needed was a little love to make it livable.

My agent suggested I make an offer at the listed price with a carpet allowance. I thought there was no way the sellers would go for it, but the listing agent said the owners wanted to sell it as soon as possible. Apparently, the sellers had not received a single offer at this point. It was worth a try; what a crazy turn.

I made my offer that day, and the owners accepted it immediately. I wasn’t fearful. I knew if there were anything significantly wrong with the house, it would show up in the inspection and appraisal. The escrow was set at thirty days, but it closed two weeks early, giving me time to get all the repairs taken care of before I moved in. Here’s another fun note. When we did the final walk-through, my realtor told me the owners had received multiple offers the following day after accepting my offer, all of which were higher than mine.

We can look at this story as if everything would have been ok in the end, which is probably true. But isn’t it nice to be reminded that God is in the small stuff? It’s personal. Sometimes God’s voice is so quiet I’m sure we miss it.

The best decision I made that day had nothing to do with whether I should make an offer on a house that was almost right. The best decision I made that day was to take a walk and find a quiet place to hear God’s voice.

 Wishing you joy and peace,

Lorrie

Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually. Chronicles 16:11